Don't Say She Walked Away
by sinceresapphire
Summary: Tina finds some pictures from her relationship with Mike and remembers...


**_Disclaimer:_**I don't own Glee or the song, 'Wrecking Ball'.

* * *

_We kissed, I fell under your spell_  
_A love no one could deny_  
_Don't you ever say I just walked away_  
_I will always want you_  
_I can't live a lie, running for my life_  
_I will always want you_

_-"Wrecking Ball" – Miley Cyrus_

* * *

Pictures lay scattered on the floor as she dug through a box, deciding what would come with her into the next chapter of her life.

There were so many memories; some good, some bad, some happy, some sad but all hers.

Four years had changed everything for her and there was no going back.

Her fingers grasped another picture and pulled it out of the box.

In it, there was a boy and girl with their arms wrapped around each other and bright smiles on their faces.

Staring down at the faces, she felt a tear fall from her eye as she got lost in a memory from another life.

Emotions she had long thought dead, came rushing back in that moment and she couldn't breathe.

He was her first real love and someone she tried to not think about.

Two years was how long she had him for her own before the heartbreak and internal chaos that she suffered.

People said that it was just a high school romance but to her, it was so much more than that.

As much as she loved him, a part of her always knew that it was too good to be true.

At the end of the day, they were too different to last but she still loved him; it still hurt to think about him and what they had at that time.

Maybe she was just a masochist but she couldn't stop looking at the pictures of their love just like she couldn't bring herself to throw them away.

Placing the picture down, she closed her eyes as she tried to push the memories away.

Maybe it was true, all good things must come to an end but that didn't make what happened to them any easier to take.

She hated to think about all of the cracks that filled their relationship in the last couple months they were together.

They showed that there were things that needed to be worked on but she took the easy way out, claiming that a long distance wasn't going to work out.

But she knew the truth; that she couldn't be the woman that he wanted her to be even if he never came out and said it.

At the end of the day though, she couldn't regret the time she spent with him because he touched her in all the ways that she needed at the time.

For good or bad, people come into each other's lives for a reason and he was no exception.

People wanted to say that he dumped her because she wasn't Asian enough but that didn't make sense.

Of course, they had different opinions on their heritages but of all things that Mike Chang is and has been, shallow like that was never one of them.

Even when things got bad between them, she would have still admitted that he was a good guy and that was one thing about him that would never change even if she thought there needed to be some tweaks so they could stay together.

Sometimes, it feels like the other members of New Directions, past and present, are more invested in a couple than the couple themselves.

Tina remembered when Brittany found out that she broke up with Mike.

The blonde's sad face still popped up sometimes when she wasn't expecting it.

Brittany's disappointment about not being able to see if their future babies would be Asian too was tangible and may or may not have had her fearing for her life if Santana got wind of Brittany being upset.

Regardless, they both deserved to be happy even if it is with other people, people who were never a part of New Directions. After all, most people don't end up marrying their high school sweethearts and she knew better than to hope to be the exception and not the rule.

Tina let out a sigh and shook her head as her alarm suddenly went off. She had forgotten that she had set it so that she wouldn't be late for her appointment.

Her eyes looked over the scattered pictures before reaching out to grab them so she could put them away to avoid having them get ruined.

Even though that time of her life was over, she still treasured the pictures and what they represented.

Despite what others thought, what Mike thought…she didn't walk away from him, it was just not in the cards for them.


End file.
